Brewdog founder James Watt slams Burnham over Neets crisis
Brewdog co-founder James Watt has attacked Andy Burnham for “dangerous narratives” around youth joblessness, criticising the government for hiking the cost of employment.
The beer tycoon said the Prime Minister is wrong to “blame the system” and should instead cut the cost of hiring workers and “get out of the way”.
The Scottish businessman, who kickstarted the UK’s craft beer craze when he co-founded Brewdog, shared a video in which Andy Burnham says the UK’s young people who are out of employment, education and training (Neets) have been failed by the education system.
“They’ve been let down by an education system that told them there was only one route to success, and then left them without the opportunities to get their foot in the door anywhere else,” the Prime Minister says in the Tiktok post.
But the former Brewdog boss said Burnham has “missed the mark”. He said: “This is a dangerous narrative. It may sound compassionate.
“But teaching young people that their circumstances are someone else’s fault does not empower them. It strips them of agency. And personal responsibility is the foundation of progress.”
There are nearly one million Neets aged between 16 and 24 in the UK, according to official statistics. In May, a review by Blair-era health secretary Alan Milburn found that the welfare state and social media are to blame for this “economic catastrophe”.
Retail and hospitality industry leaders have urged the government to address the Neets crisis by cutting their tax burden so they can afford to hire more workers.
Industry figures have taken aim at the government’s hikes to employer national insurance contributions (NICs), above-inflation increases to the minimum wage and its crackdown on flexible work.
Watt tells Burnham: Cut tax and get out of the way
Watt said: “There is also something deeply ironic about the government blaming ‘the system’, as though the government is somehow separate from it, whilst all this Labour Government has done is make it increasingly difficult and more expensive for businesses to employ people.”
The government is “taking no ownership” of its hikes to employment costs and rising business rates bills, which high street firms have said are also harming their ability to invest in their workforces.
The Brewdog co-founder said: “If the government makes it much more expensive for businesses to employ people, then businesses will employ fewer people. It is simple cause and effect.
“The bottom line is that governments do not create opportunity. People do. Entrepreneurs do. Businesses do. [The] government’s job is to remove barriers, reward work, protect freedom and then get out of the way.”
Watt co-founded Brewdog with Martin Dickie, his school friend, in 2007. Both founders had stepped away from the firm ahead of its eventual sale in March. In 2022, the pair faced allegations – denied by both – of a “toxic” workplace culture.